![]() HP’s post-press partners include AB Graphics, Duplo, EMT, GBC, Horizon, Hunkeler, Kolbus, MBO, Morgana, Pitney Bowes, Renz and Rollem. The JDF and JMF links are also important for communicating with post-press processes. “However, for some companies, it could be a more elegant solution than an MIS,” says Stabler. For mixed production environments there are also links to Apogee, Prinergy, Prinect and Trueflow offset workflows.Īs Director is based around JDF and JMF it is capable of integrating with third-party MIS, but for some applications the built-in tools for pricing, quoting and production planning will be capable of handling many tasks itself. The firm can also supply Director with Creo Darwin, DirectSmile, EskoArtwork, GMC, Mindfire, Pageflex, Pitney Bowes, Printable and Printsoft.ĭirector will support almost all of HP’s commercial and industrial press line-up, with the only exceptions being the early Series One machines. One of the other key technologies for successful digital print production is personalisation, which is supported by integration with HP Indigo’s InDesign and QuarkXPress plug-in SmartStream Designer (formerly Yours Truly) as well as other variable-data printing (VDP) packages from fellow HP firm Exstream. “We understand that although the Director has strong storefront capabilities – integrations at the front-end, which are driven by many considerations – there are other solutions available that customers may prefer. “Director will support connectivity to web-to-print systems,” says HP Indigo strategic product marketing manager Friedhelm Hartmann. HP envisages some situations when other web-to-print systems are integrated. “We wanted one integrated system, but based on open standards.”ĭirector’s web-to-print component can be configured to provide both customer-branded portals for contract-based business and storefronts for what HP terms ‘surf-in’ business from the internet. “We’ve noticed that integration is a big issue for print service providers,” says Costas. He believes HP’s IT background gives it an advantage when it comes to helping printers with workflow. “SmartStream Director offers overall management of the process from web to fulfilment.” “Workflow is end-to-end, including finishing and fulfilment,” says HP Imaging & Printing Group vice president of marketing Manny Costas. Press-sense decided the term ‘web-to-print’ didn’t adequately define what its product did and instead uses ‘business flow automation’ (BFA). It is based on the latest version of Israeli web-to-print market leader Press-sense’s iWay Prime, which was also unveiled at the show. Its launch was held back until the show opened and it represents the jewel in HP’s workflow crown. This is where the SmartStream Director comes in. In moving to the SmartStream workflow family HP also separated its digital front-ends from the presses making it easier to provide more flexible work scheduling, including task automation. Third-party products that now come under the HP brand include the SmartStream Production Plus front end, which is a Creo PODS developed digital front end (DFE), and the SmartStream Labels and Packaging Print Server, which is an EskoArtwork developed product. ![]() HP’s own products include the SmartStream Production Pro and Ultra print servers for driving the Indigos, with the Ultra designed for high-volume personalised work, such as photo book printing and able to support up to 32 Indigo 7000s running flat-out simultaneously. This in itself marked a departure for the firm, which had never before allowed its partners to create HP-branded products. Prior to the event HP had already taken the wraps off the SmartStream family of workflow products, some of which are third-party products designed to integrate with the firm’s presses and software. “Workflow has a big effect on the productivity and profitability of a press.” “Maximising output has less to do with the number of pages per minute and more to do with how you line up the jobs,” says Robert Stabler, HP Indigo UK and Ireland manager. ![]()
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